Right through their fingers

Bruins fumble it in final moments

By Nancy Marrapese-Burrell, Globe Staff, 4/5/2000

AMPA - The nightmare continues.

Tampa Bay's Stan Drulia took advantage of a miscue by young defenseman Nick Boynton and beat goalie Rob Tallas with only one minute remaining to lift the Lightning to a 5-4 victory over the Bruins last night at the Ice Palace.

Tallas had fired the puck up the right boards, but Jaroslav Svejkovsky stopped it and shot toward the net. Boynton tried to collect the puck with his glove but it went through him and Drulia got it, beating Tallas at the 19-minute mark of the third period.

''It was awful,'' said Boynton. ''It was just a bad, bad play on my part. I don't know what I was thinking. It was stupid. What can you do? I knew the guy was behind me. The one thing I didn't want to happen happened. It got through me somehow.

''My baseball skills aren't up to par, I guess.''

As if things weren't bad enough, the already strapped Bruins lost two more players in the game: forward Jay Henderson to a knee injury and defenseman Darren Van Impe to a concussion. Coach Pat Burns said Peter Ferraro and Jonathan Aitken will join the team for tonight's game against the Panthers in Sunrise.

The first period looked like a cross between training camp, because of the sloppiness, and the minor league playoffs, because of the makeup of the rosters. Both clubs have been depleted by injuries.

What looked like a possible blowout by Tampa Bay quickly turned around as Boston took a 3-2 lead into the first intermission.

The Lightning got the jump, potting two goals just 43 seconds apart on their first two shots.

Brian Holzinger dished a pass to Fredrik Modin, whose relay pinballed off a couple of Bruins and came right back to him. He beat Tallas at 1:03.

At 1:46, Vincent Lecavalier tallied his first of two. Boston's Mike Knuble tried to make a pass to Boynton but the puck bounced off Boynton's skate and right to Mike Johnson behind the net. Johnson found Lecavalier in front and the 19-year-old Lightning captain beat a shaky Tallas with a backhander.

But the Bruins came back strong. Cameron Mann started the rally with his seventh goal of the year. Joel Prpic relayed the puck to Steve Heinze along the left boards. Heinze fed it to Mann in the left circle, and Mann's bid sailed past the glove of goalie Zac Bierk at 9:21.

At 10:51, Boston pulled even on Eric Nickulas's fourth goal of the season. Mattias Timander blasted a one-timer from just inside the blue line, and Nickulas tipped it past Bierk to make it 2-2.

Tallas settled down and made some tough stops just prior to Brian Rolston giving the Bruins their first lead.

Rolston took a shot from the right circle that Bierk stopped, but Rolston bunted in the rebound for the 3-2 advantage at 15:44. That was all for Bierk as Lightning coach Steve Ludzik pulled him in favor of Dieter Kochan.

In the second, the Lightning tied it at 4:38 on Lecavalier's second of the night and 25th of the season.

Boston had myriad power-play chances in the third, including a 22-second two-man advantage, but couldn't cash in.

Tampa Bay did. Johnson picked up his third point of the night when he scored on the power play at 7:39, giving the Lightning a 4-3 lead. Lecavalier made a perfect setup to Johnson, who tallied his 20th goal of the season on a tip-in.

But Heinze brought the Bruins back even only 19 seconds later. Prpic relayed a pass to Antti Laaksonen, who skated up the left side. Laaksonen faked a shot and then dished to Heinze, who redirected the puck past Kochan.

This story ran on page F06 of the Boston Globe on 4/5/2000.
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